


In the beginning a flame

by Mimilou96



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Accident, Artist Zayn, Awkward Flirting, Awkward first meeting, Clumsy Harry, Crush, Cute, Dating, Doctor Harry, F/M, Falling In Love, Fate, Flirting, Fluff, Funny, Get Together, Hi and oops, Kissing, Light-Hearted, London, Louis is only wearing unterwear and Harry lends him his hoodie, M/M, Moving, Mutual Pining, Neighbours, Pining, Rambling, Romance, Snogging, Teacher Louis, They all live in one building, Uni AU, fire alarm, lads evening, romantic, stumbling into eachother, twinky louis, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-03 16:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2858180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimilou96/pseuds/Mimilou96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis moves into the same building as Harry, they stumble into eachother as the fire alarm goes off one night.... </p><p>Eager flirting in underwear, the exchange of clothing and terrible awkwardness plus some cuddling is what follows...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The stars see everything after all

**Author's Note:**

> New fanfiiic yay. Please tell me what you think and leave me kudos if you like it :)  
> I'm mostly done writing the whole thing, so there will be quick updates ;)  
> Happy reading!!

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable."  
\- Bruce Lee

\----

It was already starting to get dark and the stars where blinking lazily above him when Harry reached the old and weathered building that held his apartement.

He sighed in relief. Finally home. 

He was exhausted and felt so tired that his eyelids had been close to dropping a few times, also it was uncomfortably cold and his legs were killing him. 

Running up and down hospital corridors from patient to patient all day was now causing him cramps and a sore back. 

Also he had missed the last bus home (because he had forgotten his bag in the changing room of the clinic) and had therefor wandered through the cold streets of London for what felt like hours to get back home. 

He grimaced as he felt the throbbing pain in his back. 

His back had always been sensitive. That's why he did Pilates and other exercises for a strong back regularly even though he was only in his mid-twenties. 

He really couldn't wait for the weekend to arrive! He seriously needed some time to sleep in and spend time with his friends, who he hadn`t seen in days because they all were busy working and studying.

Harry sighed, pushed open the creaky front door of the building and then walked, more like crawled, up the first set of the stairs, gripping the wooden rail for support.

It had been a long day. Hours and hours of work. And now all he was craving was some food, a place to lay down and maybe some tea. He didn`t even wanted to do anything. No, definitely not. Really really not.

He started on the second set of stairs. 

Downstairs he heard someone entering, the door creaked and the person´s keys clattered together happily.

A minute later a sporty woman with a grocery bag overtook Harry. They knew eachother fleetingly and she greeted him and rushed further upstairs. 

Harry said it back and groaned, he wished for the energy the woman had. She was already gone while he still pushed himself up the last few steps.

The neon light that illuminated the hall died for a second, fluttered, before it continued to spread cold light through the stairwell again. 

Harry had finally reached the second floor. Thank god. 

He planned to collapse on the couch as soon as he was through the door. He couldn't wait. 

But despite his exhaustion he stopped at the big glass door, a fire exit, for a second and looked at the stars. 

He had done that on his first night in this building, after long hours of carrying boxes upstairs, and he still did it whenever he came home at night. 

The view was fantastic and the stars were so pretty and bright tonight, twinkling next to the moon and playing hide and seek behind the clouds. 

The sky seemed so peaceful, but also as if it had many stories to tell, the stars saw everything after all.

Harry shook his head. Where were these thoughts coming from? Being all poetic was Zayn's thing, not his.

He huffed out a small laugh, drew a smiley on the slighty damp window and stepped away from the cold glass barrier.

He drove his left hand through his long curls, careful not to entangle them in the rings he was wearing and shook his head to himself again. 

What a weird night. The whole day seemed odd and missing the bus had been the highlight. He was such a lucky dog! 

The boneless exhaustion from running around all day also mingled with the dark sides of working in a hospital and all he wanted was to "recharge his batteries" as his mum used to say.

He sighed loudly.

It was his purpose to help. He had chosen that career path. He tried to help the patients coming into the hospital, he did the best he could, gave them smiles and sweets and reassuring words, but still he suffered from seeing pain, fear and death. 

At least I always try my best, he thought to himself. 

He was still on trial, but he had finished his studies and was being payed moderately. He was working hard and he would be a fantastic doctor. The best he could be.

All in all he was mostly happy with his life. 

He felt like helping others was his destiny, he loved it and was proud when he managed to cure someone and provided them relief. 

His job, friends and his family were making him happy and the few odd relationships and one night stands he had kept him, at least sexually, satisfied. 

Sure it was a stressful job and sure he hadn't found and still yearned for a long-lasting and happy relationship, but he would continue living his life until he had found what he was looking for. 

He still needed to fight his way up the career path and he also knew that actively looking for love was pointless, it caused bad luck. 

Love would find him and even though he was exhausted now he would reach the comfortable stage of his job in a few years. He wouldn't give up. It would come as fate had planned it.

He walked the last few steps over to his door, pushed the small key into the slightly rusty lock, turned it and opened the door slowly.

It was the beginning of spring, at night it was still cold outside and even the stairwell had been chilly, so he was glad that he was finally home.

He shivered as the warmth slowly crawled up his back and settled over his skin like a thin blanket. 

The light bulb in his small corridor fluttered like a nervous insect after he had hit the switch, but after a few seconds it evenly flooded the room with light and Harry was already so used to it that he didn't even noticed.

The flat was small and ratty, but the curly-haired man felt cosy and home in it's small rooms. 

He was used to it and had lived here for years. And at least he was cleaning and tidying it, not like Zayn, who could barely walk through the things that were stapled on the floor of his apartement.

Zayn was a creative head, had been his best friend since they both had started to study in London years ago and clearly owned way too much stuff for his own sake.

Whenever the raven-haired boy spotted something he liked he took it back to his flat which was next to Harrys and used it to make art. 

He photographed and drew and tinkered and Harry adored his work. It was mysterious and honest and sometimes a bit playful, but it worked for him and Harry knew that he would end up famous in one way or another.

He stepped into his livingroom, which was partly coloured a soft yellow, and took a deep breathe. 

Time for a quiet evening on the couch, he decided and shrugged off his coat and shoes.

Zayn had told him that he was busy tonight, just like Niall, Ed, Cara and Grimmy had. Liam always worked the night shift on thursdays and his mum was probably already asleep. After all it was already after 10pm.

So it was just him. Noone to speak to and no distractions. 

Harry found that he didn't mind much. He liked it quiet from time to time.

He dug up some vanilla scented candles that reminded him of home, lit them up, warmed up some leftover spaghetti from the day before, opened a bottle of red wine and curled up under the fluffy white blanket on his big and plushy couch.

While eating he remembered that the reruns of old "F.r.i.e.n.d.s" episodes should still be on and he quickly turned on the TV and changed channels until he had found the right one.

Then he sighed and sunk deeper into the cushions, the food balanced on his lap.

And after finishing his food he slowly fell asleep, dizzy from the wine with a full belly and tired legs.


	2. Special Circumstances

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. WHOOOOHOOOOO. BEEP BEEP BEEP. WHOOOOOHOOOO."

Harry slowly lifted his head from the couch cushions with a groan and looked around with confusion and sleepiness still clouding his mind. 

His back was stiff and one leg numb from sleeping curled up with his tight jeans still on.

He groaned as he sat up. The cruel noise didn't subside and he pressed his hands on his ears for a second.

Was he dreaming?

The smell and jitter of the scented candles reached his senses und he stared at the still blaring TV, a random advertisement for microwaves playing. 

His hair was a mess and the muster of the couch cushion had pressed itself into his cheek.

Everything seemed more or less normal, but what the hell was that horrible noise?

While trying to stand up Harry knocked over the wine glass with his blanket. 

He cursed loudly and watched it fall, too sleepy and slow to catch it.

It landed on the wooden floor with a dull noise and sprinkled the bit of red fluid that had still been in it on the wood, the blanket that had fallen from his body and over Harry's jeans and white socks.

"Fuck!" Harry yelled again, even though the mess wasn't that big, the glass wasn't broken and it hadn't even been full. Still he was huffy. There would most likely remain a red stain and Harry hated red wine stains.

He stood up, made a big step over the mess and woobled into the kitchen to get a rag and clean up before the wine could seep into the wood or into one of his beloved fluffy carpets.

He opened the cupboard, got on his tippy toes and fished for it.

With the rag finally in his hands he went to take care of the lake of wine, but it knocked at his door before he could get to work.

"Harry?" A muffled female voice called out.

Harry groaned and threw the rag across the room in anger. This was ridiculous! 

He could barely hold his eyes open and the alarm as well as the persistent person weren't letting up. On the contrary: Both were seemingly getting louder and louder by the minutes.

What the hell was even happening?

"Harry! You in there?" The pounding on his door continued.

Harry groaned, staggered to the door with long strides and opened it.

Cara was standing there in her pink pyjamas, hair in a messy bun, obviously tired but seemingly relieved to see him. 

She lived one floor above him and they had been friends ever since Harry had moved in. 

Cara had fallen over some stuff Harry had lost on the stairs while trying to move a big box upstairs all by himself and then promptly offered to help him carry the rest of his stuff inside which had resulted in a great friendship.

"There you are! Come on. We have to get out." She said now, already impatiently pulling at his sleeve.

Harry rubbed his eyes like a kid and ran his fingers through his dishevelled hair. He still felt so sleepy that he could barely hold his eyes open.

Nevertheless he noticed the halfnaked people in stupid or flimsy clothes that were running down the stairs behind Cara. 

A kid was crying loudly, while his parents carried him downstairs. His wails echoed through the stair well.

Behind them a man tried to persuade his stubborn dog to move faster. After some more dragging the dog stopped moving altogether and had to be carried down the next set of stairs.

A few more people followed, but still the stream of people rushing by wasn't slowing down. 

Then the defect neon light on their floor suddenly went out.

A few women screeched and stopped walking because they couldn't see. 

It started up again. 

They continued to stumble downstairs.

Harry blinked.

"Why?" He asked dumbly.

Cara rolled her eyes fondly.

"Because that's the fire alarm, Curls! And that means that it's burning which means we should probably leave the building." 

She grabbed his hand and pulled him downstairs, Harry stumbling behind her, disorientedly.

The tiled floor was cold against his feet even through the socks and he was jealous of Cara who was wearing her fluffy pink flamingo slippers.

They rushed down the last few steps, the alarm still blaring and hurting Harry's ears. 

The green-eyed felt the wet and ratty doormat under his feet as Cara pulled him through the door and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Then they and the few other following them were outside and the frontdoor fell close with a loud thud.

Harry looked around and found himself standing in the cold night with his overexcited neighbours, everyone chatting and asking around if someone knew what had happened.

"I'll look if Zayn is here, you stay put!"

Cara said and went to look for their friend, leaving Harry on his own, the cold seeping through his partly wet clothes.

He stood there for a minute and looked around cluelessly.

Then the sirens of the fire engine could be heard and the big red vehicle turned up in front of the house.

The firefighters jumped out and gently pushed the people out of the way. Some of them then ran inside, others asked around what caused the alarm and if anyone was missing.

Harry stumbled out of the way, more awake now but still confused, and bumped backwards into another person.

"Oops, sorry. I'm sorry. Wasn't looking were I was going." He called out.

Still wavering and trying to gain his balance back, he turned around to see the person he had nearly knocked over. 

He had definitely felt toes under his own bare feet which wasn't good at all.

God, why had he to be so damn clumsy all the time?

"Hi. Erm. It's fine. No harm done."

A man with a surprisingly high voice stuttered, recovering from the collision and holding onto Harry's arm to stabilize him.

Harry, who had finally regained his balance, stared at the stranger in wonder. 

The man was beautiful and oh god: only wearing a teeny tiny pair of black topman boxers! 

Harry blinked and then took a very deep breath.

Heaven was real! God had send a naked angel! 

Or was this all a crazy wet dream? 

It couldn't be! The man, who was now looking at him in concern, seemed pretty real and Harry could still feel the touch of his fingertips on his arms.

Harry's eyes moved from the man's blue eyes to his tanned chest, which was grazed with the littlest patch of hair. 

He blinked. 

"Oh..." He breathed out.

And then all he could do was stare in wonder and let his eyes wander further, carefully but quickly checking the stranger out.

And what he saw almost made him drool.

A sexy little happy trail leading into the tight and well filled underwear. 

Toned and strong arms that Harry was sure would look really good in a tight t-shirt. 

Blue blue eyes and a messy fluffy tuft of caramel coloured hair

And also delicious golden tighs and wide hips. God in heaven, he was so tiny and curvy!

And he had tattoos everywhere!

Harry almost reached out to touch them, but then a small voice in his head told him not to be a creep and also reminded him that talking would be a good idea. 

Also he felt the urgent wish to get to know the man, he had never seen him before.

Obviously they lived in the same complex, both standing here, not fully dressed.   
But Harry had never seen him before, which was a pity because he was simply beautiful, standing there illuminated by milky moonlight. 

He wanted to go on, but before he could pursue his thinking the man cleared his throat. He was now looking more and more concerned and weirded out.

Harry snapped out of it quickly, forced himself to contain his wandering mind, smiled lightly and started to talk instead. Good idea, Harry. Talking is normal. Smiling is attractive. Good. Perfect.

"I uhmm. Uhmm... You sure you are okay? I stepped on your toes, didn't I? I'm so sorry!" He managed to say.

The blue-eyed man looked relived that Harry was talking, but also a bit sheepishly.

"Yeah you did. But I'm fine!" He shrugged, blushing a bit.

"Really?"

"Yep." The man nooded, thin lips pressed together and then asked carefully:

"Are you ok?" He eyed Harry worriedly.

"Sure I am ... And I'm glad that I didn't hurt you."

Harry blushed and the other man smiled reassuringly. Then they stood there in silence and both watched the fire fighters running in and out of the house. Busy little bees these guys.

"Do you know what happened?" Harry asked after a minute, glancing at the guy from of the corner of his eye.

The stranger shook his head.

"Was woken by the alarm. I hope it's just false alarm. It would be a pity if the house would burn down 2 days after I moved in."

The man laughed and Harry huffed out a probably too loud laugh as well.

"Yeah, indeed. That wouldn't be cool." Harry mumbled.

They were silent for a few moments, before Harry spoke up again, glad to know a bit more about the stranger.

"So... you just moved in? I saw a moving van, but I'm not home often so I guess that's why we haven't meet before."

"Yep, I did." the man sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Do you need help unpacking your things? I'm good with building Ikea furniture and all that." Harry offered quickly, but the little man just laughed and waved aside.

"Oh, no. I'm almost done. Thank you."

Then the blue-eyed started to rub his arms with his hands. 

He was uncomfortable, Harry noticed.

"You cold?" He asked.

"A bit, yeah. I hope we can go back in soon." The guy answered, arms crossed over his chest, probably in embarrassment.

"You can have my jumper! I'm wearing a shirt underneath."

Harry offered quickly, already pulling the fabric over his head.

"Oh, ermm." The man stuttered. "You sure? Won't you be cold then?"

"I'm sure, I'll be fine. Take it." Harry assured and handed it to him.

The smaller man took it gratefully and pulled it over his head.

"Thank you...erm. I didn`t get your name?" The man blushed and fiddled with the hems of the jumper.

"It's Harry." Louis looked at him for a minute and then nodded.

"Thank you, Harry."

Harry blushed, wringing his hands. If the guy knew his name then he wanted to know his as well.

"And you are...?" He tried.

 

"Mhm? Oh, I'm Louis. Louis Tomlinson." Louis answered without hesitation.

Harry found himself close to drooling again. 

Loueeeh! A french name. 

A beautiful guy with a sexy french name was standing next to him in just his underwear and Harry's jumper that was way to big on him. 

Harry gulped. What a night!

"Nice, it suits you." He managed to say and then promptly regretted it.

Was he really flirting with the guy? Was he hitting on strangers in just their underwear while their house and all their belongings were possibly burning down? Was he really? He wasn't sure. Crazy night.

"Thank you." Louis answered, cheeks gaining a bit colour at the compliment, and Harry felt butterflies in his stomach area.

"I'll give it back when we see each other the next time, yeah? The jumper, I mean."

"Oh yeah, do that. I live on the second floor...or lived." Harry gestured to the fire enigine. Louis giggled at that and then smiled. He looked wonderful while doing that.

"That's pretty close to mine." He retorted.

Harry's heart did a jump. 

Was Louis flirting back? That was probably a good sign, considering that Harry was already in love. Yep definitely in love with him. 

He just couldn't believe how beautiful the man was. 

Those eyes.... They were so blue.

Harry was so close to grab and kiss the stranger...

But he snapped out of it when he heard Louis gasp and saw him staring at his feet. 

His own eyes moved down slowly and then he cursed to himself.

Fuck! The red wine stains. He probably looked like a freak. 

The smaller man gestured downwards and looked at Harry with wide eyes.

"You ok? Is that blood?"

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes at himself.

"Nope, it's red wine. I spilled it during the flight." He answered while shaking his head.

Louis breathed out and then let out a small laugh.

"Okay then."

Yeah, okay then. Louis' laugh was probably the cutest and at the same time hottest thing ever. Okay then. Harry was okay. Or not. Who knew?

They stopped talking and turned their attention on the firefighters that now slowly trotted out of the house, pulling their masks off.

One of them clapped his hands together and yelled:

"All clear! Seems like it was false alarm. The only thing we found were scented candles." Harry blushed and tilted his head down. "But they didn't cause it."

Another firefighter joined in.

"You can all go back in. Good night, everyone!"

Everyone clapped as the men climbed back into their car and then the habitants loaded with their pets and kids slowly wandered back into the building. Louis and Harry waiting a second before following.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this :) Updating very very soon!


	3. Finally Goodnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter :) but there will be more later today or tomorrow.

The caravan of tired people in mismatched clothes trotted up the stairs and bid eachother good night.

Harry and Louis followed them upstairs.  
They reached the second floor and stopped at the door to Louis' flat, which really was close to Harry's, only one other flat between them.

"Good night. It was nice to meet you."

Harry said quietly, waving a bit, while already walking backwards towards his own door. 

He didn't really want to leave Louis, but it seemed like he had to.

He would have asked the man to come over and drink some tea with him, but after all it was in the middle of the night, not the best time to hang out, so he sucked it up. They would do it on another day.

Louis smiled tiredly and leaned against his doorframe, he seemed reluctant as well. Or maybe Harry was imaginig things? God, it was too late for that shit. 

"You too. I'll see you around." Louis said, pushing the key into the lock and opening the door.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. He would like that very much. Very very much. 

"Definitively! Sweet dreams!" Harry answered softly, standing in front of his own door now.

"Sleep tight."

Louis said back and Harry waited until Louis had closed the door before he walked into his own flat.

He cleaned up the wine, changed into clean clothes and after Cara and Zayn had stopped by to say 'Good night' he found himself on the couch again. It was around 2am and he was nowhere near tired. Great.


	4. The morning after

The next day Harry was woken up by a screeching and unpleasant noise again, but this time it was his alarm clock. 

Marimba played through the whole apartement on loudest setting.

Harry groaned loudly and buried his head back into his pillow. 

It was way too early to be up. 

He was terribly tired even though it wasn't like he hadn't gotten any sleep...he had found into his bed after all (well after watching Tv for hours and maybe writing a few desperate love poems about blue blue eyes. Maybe. Nobody could proof that he did that!), but he was definitely running low on sleep!

Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up slowly.

"At least it's friday!" He murmured to motivate himself. 

It meant only half a day of work! And hell was he glad about that. 

It was probably the only thing keeping him alive...Yeah Harry could be a bit overdramatic, BUT it was 100% a true fact, because humans actually COULD and DID die from lack of sleep and Harry was definitely in danger of that. At least that was what he felt like.

He yawned and walked over to his desk, turned the blaring phone alarm off and then slowly walked into his small blue coloured bathroom.

Time to form the Zombie into a human being! 

His hair was stucking up in all directions and he overall looked crumpled and tired.

That wouldn't do! He wanted to look good, especially if he happened to see Louis today. 

He looked at himself in the mirror and seriously considered trying to wear make-up. His eyes looked horribly swollen and there were dark bags under them. 

Surely Gemma had forgotten some in his flat during her last visit... It would for sure do wonders for the dark circles under his eyes. He rummaged through the cabinet under his mirror, but then stopped and shook his head to himself.

Knowlng his luck he would probably end up looking like a panda bear... Not that panda bears weren't cute! They were probably the cutest animals ever! And maybe Louis liked them? But Harry looking like a panda would be weird. Right? So... No make-up. Easy decision.

Harry undressed, stepped under the spray and closed his eyes.

"Thank god for the invention of showers!" He thought as the first drops of the warm water ran down his pale body.

Twenty minutes later, after a very long and hot shower, body hygiene and all that, some hairstyling activity and a quick wank he already felt more like himself and also a lot less horny and tense.

Now a cup of tea and some breakfast would be all he needed to be ready for whatever would be thrown at him!

But before getting that kind of joy he saw himself forced to run naked through the apartement.

Yes, he probably was an exhibitionist and was naked more often than not, but this morning he had actually just forgotten to take his clothes with him. Nothing kinky!

Also it was still dark outside. Nobody would see. And he was also very sure that his neighbours had already seen his body from all angles and in different lights But hey! Everyone had a guilty pleasure and this time he really hadn't done it on purpose.

So he sprinted into his bedroom with lightning speed and got dressed.

After that he made himself a cup of tea, pulled on his beloved boots and checked the time.

6:50am. He was still early. No need to stress.

Harry popped a slice of toast into the toaster, grabbed a banana and a joghurt and sat down at the table.

He sipped his tea and started to eat the banana. The joghurt followed and the toast was jammed between his teeth while he got into his coat and closed the door behind himself. 

It was a completely normal morning and nothing seemed different, so he really didn't expect to turn around after locking his door and find Louis standing there, also in front of his door.

He nearly chocked on the giantic piece of bread in his mouth in surprise, his eyes bulging a bit as he tried to suck in air through his mostly blocked windpipe.

Louis looked so good! Sleepy but happy, a to-go cup of whatever he was drinking in his right hand and a leather bag in his other. Today his delicious tighs were covered in a pair of skin-tight jeans, which was a pity but the fancy dark blue suited him very well.

Could there be a better start to Harry's day?

The curly-haired plucked the sandwich from his mouth awkwardly and waved at the other man with the hand still holding his key.

The metallic jingle echooed through the stair well and Harry cringed. He hadn't planned to wake up the whole neighbourhood.

But Louis didn't seem to mind, he waved back coyly with his cup and smiled.

"Hey, Lou."

Harry greeted eagerly, realizing too late that he had used the nickname he had come up with at around 3am while slowly sliding into sleep. He flushed pink and opened his mouth to apologize and probably babble something unintelligibly, but Louis just laughed and smiled.

"Morning, Haz. You off to work as well?"

Harry nearly swooned. He felt like he had swallowed his tongue after hearing the cutest nickname he had ever gotten tumble from Louis pink lips. Still he pulled himself together and answered with barely recognizable delay. He was very proud of himself. Slow Improvement was better than nothing.

"Yeah... Uhm just heading out actually. Where do you work?"

"At the elementary school a few blocks away."

Those lucky kids! Got to see Louis all day. Harry was really jealous.

"And you?"

"I'm doctor on trial in St. Marys."

Louis whistled approvingly.

"Fancy fancy, Dr. ...?" He looked at Harry in question.

"Styles." Harry answered with a little blush colouring his face. 

Louis huffed out a loud laugh, in surprise.

"Really?!" His eyes were narrowed in disbelief.

"Yes! Harry Edward Styles."

Louis started giggling.

"You should be a porn star with that name!" He pointed out and laughed some more while Harry's cheeks filled with colour and the tips of his ears went red.

"Well... Loueeeeeh, is very seductively as well." He countered.

"Oh, you think so?"

Louis grinned at him devilishly.

Oh god, was he flirting? He was definitively flirting with Harry.

Harry felt himself go even redder, looked down and shuffled his feet over the tiles.

"I like it, it suits you."

He admitted quietly.

Louis grinned and awwed, patting Harry's arm. The warmth of his fingers sendlng electric sparks through Harry's body.

"I like yours as well, Harold."

Harry's head snapped up.

"It's Harry. Not Harold. Harry isn't a shortform!" He corrected with a serious pout.

Louis laughed and nudged Harry's nose with his pointer finger.

"I know, Curly. Just teasing."

"Oh." Harry breathed out.

"Yeah, oh." Louis deadpanned before walking a step further to the stairs.

"And now let's go, I can't be late in my first week!"

"You want us to walk together?" Harry asked surprised and carefully, following Louis.

"Yes, of course. I need someone to carry my tea, don't I."

Harry raised his eyebrows. What a princess. So sassy. But he would probably be Louis' man slave if requested. He would do almost anything, so he plucked the tea from Louis hands and smiled at him.

"Okaaay. Let's go, love."


	5. Working hard

After walking Louis to the school he was working at, Harry went to work as well.

Their work places were only a few metres apart, which caused Harry to dream about walking Louis to work every day.

It had been so much more fun with Louis by his side. He couldn't wait to talk to him again.

He had tought about picking Louis up after work, but he had forgotten to ask, the words had been stuck in his throat after the fierce warm hug Louis had given him when they had parted ways.

But he would definitely ask him that. 

Oh, there were so many things he wanted to ask now that he knew a bit more about him. 

Louis had told him about his students and his family and there were a thousand more things Harry wanted to know.

Also he really needed to think of more knock-knock jokes. He had told Louis one of his favourites and he had actually laughed at it and not just scoffed like his friends and even his own mum did. It had caused butterflies to errupt in Harry's stomach and he still felt himself smile like a maniac.

As he reached the parking lot of the hospital he contained himself and tried to concentrate. His skills were needed now and his mind had to be clear for that.

He entered the hospital, quickly changed into his scrubs and went into the common room.

There he was greeted by his co-workers and after a quick chat with Nick he started his work.

At first in the emergency room, which was just as teeming and dramatic as ever. He didn't see anything special or too crazy, but what was ever normal in an ER? There was always a certain level of panic and fear.

He treated broken limbs, a broken nose and a heavily bleeding cut, before he swapped with Nick and, after the break, took care of his usual bed-ridden patients.

He checked their temperature, changed plasters, bandages and dressings and varied their med dosages if necessary. 

Finally it was 1pm and after changing back into his normal clothes Harry practically skipped home and into the weekend. He loved weekends! They were his most beloved time of the week.

On his way back walked by Louis' work place and waited a few minutes, but the other man didn't appear so he walked home on his own.

He walked up the stairs, entered his apartement, quickly threw his coat and work clothes onto the couch, changed into comfy clothes and then went straight over to Zayn's.

It was a bit of tradition to meet for video games and take-out on fridays and Zayn was already waiting and ready.


	6. Lads evening

Harry walked the few steps over, knocked pro forma and was quickly let in. 

"Hey, mate!"

Zayn said after opening the door. He looked as if he had just fallen out of bed, which wasn't an unusual look on him, as he was practically the king of naps.

"Hi, Zaynie."

Harry said with an affectionate grin, giving his friend a quick hug. They had been cuddly with eachother from the beginning.

Harry stepped in and closed the door behind him. 

"You ready to get your ass kicked?" He called out.

But Zayn just laughed loudly, already in the living room.

"Just wait till Niall comes over! Then we will both be screwed!" He countered.

Harry shrugged it off with a laugh.  
"I'll kick his ass!" 

Zayn snorted.  
"You wish!"

They collapsed on it, sinking deep into the furniture. 

"Just wait!" Harry giggled. "I have practiced!"

They bantered around a bit more before calming down.

"Did you already order?" Harry asked.

It was THE RULE of their tradition. Every week it was one of the boys turns to prepare their flat, order food and buy enough sweets to feed an army and today it was Zayn's turn. Who had done a good job, everything was set up.

Packages of chips and nuts and gummibears were thrown on the small wooden table and two packs of beer stood on the floor next to it.

"Yep. Hawaii for you, Pepperoni for me, Salami for Liam and one with everything at hand for Niall."

Harry nooded, very pleased. He loved Pizza and hadn't had any in ages.

He opened his mouth to challenge Zayn to a game of Fifa, but it knocked at the door.

The other boys were on time for once.

Zayn scuffled over to the door and let them in. They highfived Zayn and then entered the livingroom.

"Heyyy!" Liam greeted Harry and Niall outdid every normal form of greeting by jumping on his lap.

"Hi Liam. Oww! Niall! Take your knees out of my crotch. Please!" Harry whined.

Niall just laughed brightly and gave his friend a wet kiss on the cheek.

"Hazza!" He screeched and hugged him tightly, but after Harry struggled some more he gave in and stood up.

They bustled around, tossing their jackets and shoes away and then sat down on the couch next to eachother.

"Ready?"

Zayn asked while he started the game and handed out the controllers.

"Hell yes!" They chanted.

"Then let's goooo!" Zayn screeched and pressed play.

And an intense battle of Mario Kart began, staring Harry as Princess Peach, Liam as Bowser, Zayn as Luigi and Niall as Toad.

Liam won the first round and Niall the second, which caused Harry and Zayn a fair share of frustration and made them team up against the other two. Flying Bananas and all that.

They laughed, yelled, cheered, hit eachother with pillows and generally had a good time.

And Harry and Zayn were loudly demandong for a third round, but before they could start on it, the pizza arrived and they stopped the game to eat.

"Yummy yummy yummy!"

Zayn said while carrying in the cartons and Niall was already making grabby-hands, eyes bright and spit collecting in his mouth. The irish guy was crazy for food.

The others moved the sweets from the table to make room for the beer bottles.

"Where's your pizza cutter, Z?" Liam asked from the kitchen, rummaging around.

Zayn let out an amused laugh.

"Do I even own one?"

Liam rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Well... I can't find one here. We could use a knife to cut it? God, your kitchen is a mess!"

Niall giggled. "At least he made room on the couch and dug up the Tv."

Harry sighed.

"I'll get mine, you chaots. Stay put and don't let Niall touch my food!"

Niall pouted and hit Harry lightly, but Harry just grinned at him and patted his head.

Then he got up, slipped into a pair of Zayn`s slippers and left the flat.

"Thanks, H."

Liam called out before the door closed behind Harry.

Harry just rolled his eyes and then walked the few steps to his flat, fingers in his pocket to fish for the key.

Hopefully the damn thing still was were he believed it to be.


	7. The lads evening part 2

Harry unlocked his own door, got in, walked into his kitchen quickly and opened his cutlery drawer.

The door swung close behind him with a bang that made Harry wince, but he had no time for slow and gentle. He needed to find the damn pizza cutter. He was so damn hungry and lazy. He wanted to get back on the couch.

He ripped open one drawer, but the thing wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Harry was a neat person! Where had he put the damn pizza cutter? He had seen it during the last days! He swore he had seen it!

He rummaged around a bit more, but before he could look in the dish washer, it knocked on the door.

"What's up now?"

Harry groaned to himself. His friends were like toddlers sometimes.

It knocked again.

"Impatient, fuckers!"

He yelled, jogged over to the door and ripped it open.

But it wasn't Niall and it also wasn't Zayn or Liam standing there.

No, it was Louis.

Beautiful as ever and bashful looking, with Harry's folded jumper in his hands.

"Oh!" Harry breathed out, all air leaving his lungs at once. Shit! Shit! Shit!

"Do I come inconveniently?" Louis asked with a small, unsure voice, while Harry stared at him with wide eyes. Obviously he had heard Harry yelling. Of course he had!

Harry blushed. He felt so stupid.

"No! No! Really not. Sorry for that. I thought one of my friends had knocked." He tried to explain quickly.

Louis sent him a small smile and handed the jumper over, his hand brushing Harry's for a second. But he still hadn't looked Harry in the eyes.

"I washed it. Thank you again. I uhm... Will see you later."

The blue-eyed man said quickly before turning around and walking back towards his own flat.

Fuck. Harry had obviously fucked up real bad. Louis must think of him as weird now. Or that he was rude or aggressive.

"Louis! Wait!"

He called out. His mind was racing! There had to be way to make this up to Louis again.

To his relief Louis stopped and turned back around, raising his eyebrows curiously.

"Do you like Pizza?" Harry asked desperately. The tought having come to his mind only a second ago.

Louis tilted his head in confusion. But he didn't seem mad or angry. A good sign, Harry decided.

"Yes?" He said, question marks in his eyes.

"And beer and video games?" Harry rushed out.

Louis nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah, sure."

Harry smiled and breathed in deeply. 

"Great. Uhm... If you want you can come with me. My friends and me are doing a lads ehhh evening, or something like that, right now."

Louis' eyes widened.

"Ehmm... I uhmm."

Harry fiddled with his hands. He really really hoped that Louis would join them.

"It's okay if you don't want to..."

Louis shook his head quickly.

"No. I would love to, Harry! Really!"

Harry's heart did a jump. There was hope!

"Really?"

Louis nodded, now smiling widely.

"Yes. I still don`t really know anyone here."

Harry clapped his hands together in glee.

"Great! We will change that then!" He cheered. "I just need to find the damn pizza cutter, then we can go over to Zayn, ok?"

Louis nodded, a smile still grazing his face.

Harry quickly ran back into the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers again.

"Do you need help?" Louis asked hesitantly, still leaning at the doorframe but peeking inside with interest, looking at Harry's furniture and decorations.

Harry opened his the dish washer and cheered in victory.

"Found it!"

He jogged back to Louis and grinned at him, holding the pizza cutter up like a trophy.

"Ready to go?" He asked, even more excited for the evening now.

Louis gave him a thumb up and smiled.

Harry grinned even wider and grabbed Louis wrist, pulling him over to Zayn's door.

But before Harry could press down the handle, Louis stopped him, his hand on Harry's arm.

"You sure that they won't mind?" His face showed embarrassement and uncertainty.

Harry smiled, pinched Louis' cheek and nodded.

"You are cuuute. Why are you even thinking that?? They will love you. Come on."

Louis huffed out a surprised laugh while Harry pushed open the door and then they were inside Zayn's flat.

"I'm back! Found it!"

Harry called out, again grabbing Louis hand, who was hesitating, and pulling him inside the living room.

"Took you long en... Who's that?"

All eyes were suddenly on him. Even Niall's, who had a piece of Pizza hanging from his mouth and normally couldn't be distracted from his food.

Zayn who had spoken, shut his mouth and instead stared at their interwinded hands in wonder, before jumping from the couch in excitement.

"You could have told me that you have a new boyfriend and that he is coming to our hangouts now, you dick! What a surprise" He called out, jogging over to highfive Louis.

Harry opened his mouth. "Uhm, he..."

But Zayn was faster, talking despite his friends protest.

"Hello mate, nice to meet ya. I'm Zayn."

Louis accepted the handclap uncertaintly but let Harry's hand fall from his as if he had burned himself and stood there quite awkwardly.

"I...uhm I'm not his boyfriend. I'm Louis, your new neighbour. I uhm live a few doors down from here."

"OH!" Zayn said and raised an eyebrow at Harry who was blushing like mad. God, this was embarrassing.

"Harry invited me, I hope that's ok. I mean I can go if..." Louis stuttered, turning beet red and wringing his hands nervously.

"NO, no. Stay please. And sit down."

Liam said, politely offering Louis the seat next to him.

Louis blushed, but seemed relieved and happy.

"Really? You all ok with it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Great!" Harry said and possesively pulled Louis over to his side of the couch so that he couldn't sit down next to Liam, who raised his eyebrows in confusion, but sat down again and frowned.

Harry then sat down next to Niall and pulled Louis down. The blue-eyed perched himself in the small space between Harry and the arm of the couch.

He still looked a bit uncomfortable, so Harry smiled at him and gestured to the Pizza carton in front of them.

"We can share my Pizza. I hope you like Hawaii?"

"Sure I do. But you don't need to share with me. It's yours after all."

Louis said quietly, fingers playing with the seam of his t-shirt

Harry pouted.

"But I want to."

Louis looked at him for a second but then gave in with a smile.

"Ok."

They all got comfortable on the couch again and after Liam had cut the four Pizzas in handy stripes they started up the game again.

What followed was a very nice evening. It turned out that Louis was a video game KING who beat their asses in almost every game, especially Fifa and Harry could only stare and lose even more often than usually.


	8. The end

During the hours Louis and Harry got closer and closer to eachother, so that Louis was almost sitting on Harry's lap, who had mostly given up on playing and was instead feeding Louis with salty snacks and leftover pizza.

It felt good to have Louis so close and relaxed. He was warm and smelt very very nice. 

A bit like cinnamon and sugar, but not /that/ sweet. 

It was special and kinda perfect and Harry had to refrain from burying his nose in the curve of his neck. 

It would be too weird if he did. Not that Louis seemed to mind being that close to him, he had snuggled up to Harry more and more during the hours. But they had only just met.

Whatever this friendship would end up being: They already had a great chemistry and Harry wished that the evening would never be over.

At some point Harry picked up his controller again and they all battled against eachother, but at around 8pm Niall had had enough and Liam decided to leave with him because he wanted to spend the night with Sophia, his girlfriend.

So they got up and left Louis, Harry and a very sleepy Zayn, who had stopped playing ages ago to snuggle into a blanket and lean against Liam, on the couch.

"Good night, lads!" Liam said, ruffling Harry's hair and patting Louis on the shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you, Lou! I'll see you around, mate!" He added.

Louis nodded, his eyes still glued to the screen, smiled and opened his mouth to say something back, but Niall, who was already standing at the door, was faster and agreed.

"Yeah, you are cool, Louis. Harry has a good taste in friends!"

Louis was now grinning widely and finally looked up and away from the game. 

"Aww, I love you too, guys!" he answered with a big portion of sass (but also honest affection) in his voice and blew kisses at them. 

But he was distracted from talking to the two other men soon enough, because Harry scored a goal against him and cheered.

"You fucker! That was unfair." Louis sweared, hitting the boy in the side lightly, now again fully concentrated to win against Harry. 

Liam shook his head in amusement.

The two boys were still all cuddled up, sharing a blanket, and almost sitting on eachother, even though the couch, without Niall and Liam on it, had now much more space to offer.

Liam walked over to Zayn and tucked the blanket up some more, which the raven-haired appreciated with a sleepy smile, and then looked at the other two again. 

But they were too busy pay him further attention.

Liam sighed, shook his head again and walked over to Niall who had leaned against the doorframe and now stood up straight and opened the door for them.

"Bye!" They said and after the three others had more or less clearly said it back, they headed out and closed the door behind themselves.

And the three other boys were left alone.

It was much quieter now. Zayn's eyes dropped close after a while and he slowly fell asleep while Louis and Harry ended the started match (Harry won) and played one last round, because Louis insisted on getting another chance.

When that match was over as well and Louis had finally won, they looked at eachother expectantly, the controllers resting in their laps.

"Do you want to play 'nother round?" Harry asked sleepily.

Louis shrugged and sighed. "Not really, but if you want to I could be persuaded."

He sunk back into Harry's chest, looked up at his face and fluttered his eye lashes, waiting for Harry's answer.

Harry stared back, Louis really had long and lovely eye lashes and his lips looked so soft.... 

"Control yourself!" Harry told himself.

He cleared his throat, turning his head slightly and shook his head.

"I don't... Let's go back to mine? I mean ... So that we don't disturb Zayn?" He suggested with a slight blush covering his cheeks.

"Ok!" Louis nodded without hesitation and started to move out of Harry's lap, but after a moment his eyes lit up in mischief and he leaned back in. "Let's draw something on Zayn's face before we go!" He whispered in Harry's ear.

He was so so close and his breathe tickled the curly-haireds ear.

Harry felt slightly weak to the knees as Louis' lips touched him and was glad he was sitting so he just nodded and answered with a woobly, but enthusiastic grin.

At that point he would do almost anything the blue-eyed boy suggested and it didn't sound too stupid (it sounded hilarious to be quite honest) so he jumped up, shoved Louis from his lap gently and quickly grabbed a felt tip from the kitchen table.

He grinned and offered it to Louis. 

The other boy grabbed and uncapped it and slowly stalked over to where Zayn was laying, a shit-eating grin covering his face.

He leaned forward and drew something on Zayn's cheek. Harry couldn't make out what it was, but Louis was giggling hard now so it had to be something funny.

Louis giggled louder, finished his masterpiece, threw the pen on the table and grabbed Harry by the hand.

"Let's go!" Louis whisper-yelled, trying to keep quiet.

He pulled the curly-haired boy out of Zayn's flat quickly.

Harry had gotten a quick glance at the dick that Louis had drawn on Zayn's cheek and was now almost keeling over with laughter.

"You menace!" He whisper-shouted breathlessly, surprised and smitten by the other man's actions, and leaned against the wall.

Louis just huffed out a laughter and pulled him further down the hall, both of them slighty tipsy from all the beer and still giggling loudly. Especially Harry who could barely control himself. 

Whenever they looked eachother they started up again.

"Shhhh! Shut up, Styles. You are waking up the neighbours!" Louis tried, his sides were hurting from laughing and he was trying to catch his breath.

But Harry just giggled even louder. And Louis rolled his eyes at him and then started again as well.

They tumbled further through the corridor, their arms and sides touching and both of them gripping the other whereever they could reach. 

"You are wonderfully crazy. Did someone ever tell you that?" Harry pressed out, focussing on Louis' eyes.

Louis stopped walking and laughing, stepped in front Harry, tilted up his head, and just looked at Harry.

"You think so?" He asked, a grin still playing around his lips.

Harry nodded, his cheeks red and eyes glassy while he bit his lips.

Louis eyes then slid down to watch him gnaw on the red flesh.

"I like you too." He breathed out.

Then they were gripping eachother tightly.   
and Louis grabbed Harry around the neck and brought their lips together to kiss him messily.

Harry gasped into Louis' mouth, surprised by the sudden action, but melted into Louis soon enough.

Their teeth clashed and Harry almost bit off Louis' tongue, that was trying to sneak into his mouth, but they still both very much enjoyed the kiss.

Soon enough they were heavily snogging against the wall, tongues sliding against eachother and exploring the other warm mouth.

They kissed for long minutes and both got more and more excited, but it was Harry who pulled back and let his head rest against Louis' forehead, the other boys eyes still closed.

They were both hard and breathing heavily.

"Date me."

Harry whispered, pressing a kiss to Louis earlobe.

"Mmhm? What?" The other man asked, his eyes snapping open.

"Date me?" Harry tried again, now a bit unsure of himself.

"Ok!" Louis whispered softly with a big grin covering his face, hugging him closer and smashing his lips against Harry's again.

They started up where they had stopped right away and after a minute Louis had started to press his tigh against Harry's hard-on, letting the curly-haired rut against him, but they didn't came any further.

A moment later they heard a loud shout coming from Zayn's flat and quickly parted.

Louis huffed out a panicked breath. His hair was messy and his lips a cherry-red.

"Run!" He shouted, grabbing Harry by the hand and pulling him down the stairs.

They were still laughing as they reached the bottom of the stairs and left the building.

"You are so crazy!" Harry pressed out between giggles.  
"Zayn is going to kill us!"

Louis just smiled at him, kissed him square on the mouth and said: "Don't think about it, love."

Then he fluttered his eye lashes and looked at Harry expectantly.

"Didn't you promised to take me on a date? We could do that before Zayn ends our lives!"

Harry laughed happily, nooded and then they started to run down the street, exchanging kisses every few metres. 

And their laughter and giggles were ringing through the night, the stars watching them closely.

The End!


End file.
